MODEL SASHA’S PUTTING LIFE BACK ON TRACK
N OT many people can say they’ve had cancer, three holes in their heart and d been homeless by 24.
But for Asher Rawcliffe (who likes to be known by his stage name Sasha Valentine), these are just some of the experiences he’s faced so far.
But the model, from Newport, has also had some highs.
During his late teens he decided to become a model - and has done quite well for himself, modelling for the likes of top fashion brand Alexander McQueen at London Fashion Week.
But the journey to get there wasn’t easy and he’s also had a lot of setbacks, which he says are in part down to difficulties with mental health. Sasha’s life got off to a difficult start. There were complications when his mother gave birth to him and his twin brother, Reuben Rawcliffe.
Sasha said: “When I was born I was deprived of nutrients – all the nutrients went to my twin brother.
“My brother used to say when I was a baby I looked like ET, but my mother says I looked like a baby doll. “I think she was being a bit kind.” Sasha said it was “very hard” for his parents, Peter and Evangeline, and things were about to get worse, when they were told Sasha had stomach cancer. If that news wasn’t devastating enough, the family later discovered Sasha had three holes in his heart.
Sasha underwent cancer treatment when he was strong enough to be able to cope with it.
He says he can’t remember everything he went through - but the treatment worked. “In the end the holes also closed up,” he said.
“I was about three when I was better and I felt like a normal child again, but I can’t really remember much about it.
“I would like to remember because it’s so life-changing – but I just can’t. Something about me wants to remember what happened.”
When he was growing up things were going quite well for Sasha, but things started to change when he hit his teens.
In his own words he started to become “rebellious” and gave up on education.
But, luckily for Sasha, something changed him. His father took him to Africa as part of a charity project called the Celtic Culture Exchange. He travelled to work with young people with disabilities and body deformities.
According to Sasha, the experience “really opened his eyes”.
“To see something like that for two weeks – it really changes you,” he added.
“I was doing things like feeding them and making wheelchairs for them. It made me realise something.”
When he returned to Wales, Sasha decided to get into modelling.
But he didn’t get off to the best start. He travelled to London to have some pictures taken for his portfolio and he paid £1,300 for around 20 photographs.
He got the photographs but he says they weren’t good quality – he now thinks he was conned.
But after this, things started to improve. He ended up working with a photographer called Fabrice Rizzato and later featured on his website.
Then he found himself modelling for the likes of Alexander McQueen and also appeared at London Fashion Week.
One of the shows was streamed to 105 million people worldwide so the job was pretty high-pressured.
He later went onto do some magazine work and acting but has been out of action for about a year now.
Just as things started to pick up for him, he began to suffer with mental health issues. He was diagnosed with anxiety in his 20s and it’s led him to turn down a lot of work.
In his own words, he went through a stage where he didn’t think his career was going anywhere.
Sasha said: “Things just went in a downward spiral, and I felt my home life was a part of it.
“I had it in my head that they were causing it but it wasn’t them. It was me that was causing it.”
He spent between six months and a year without a home – not living on the streets, but staying at people’s houses.
“They (the family) did try and support me with my problem, but I just wanted to try and do something on my own. I just wanted to be recognised.”
He’s now back in Newport and has restored a good relationship with his family. He’s trying to get things back on track thanks to the help of his family and his partner.
Over the past few months he’s been taking small steps to get back into the modelling industry, and he’s hoping to do some more acting work too.
The aspiring star hopes his story will encourage other people who are facing bad times to get through them.
Sasha said: “I got back in touch with my mother and my father and they told me I could do anything I put my mind to.
“I have a good relationship with them now. My father really helps to support me and says nothing is unachievable and that I can do it.” I wanted to do